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Share this Story: Sean Giambrone still playing 'close to myself' for seventh season of The Goldbergs

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For fans of The Goldbergs, picturing a cowboy-hatted Adam Goldberg awkwardly perched on a horse, clutching a six-shooter and squinting into the sunset may not be that much of a stretch.

The endearingly dorky and often delusional teenage protagonist of the long-running sitcom is exactly the type to miscast himself as a rugged cowboy in one of his typically earnest homemade cinematic excursions.

Sean Giambrone still playing 'close to myself' for seventh season of The GoldbergsBack to video

But actor Sean Giambrone, who has played the character on the sitcom since 2013, seems genuine when asked what his own dream role would be.

“I would like to try other stuff,” says the 20-year-old actor, in an interview with Postmedia earlier this summer at the Banff World Media Festival. “One, I always say, is that I would love to play a cowboy, just because my grandpa likes all those movies and television shows. I always thought it would be cool, for him and for me, to have a cowboy thing going on.”

Giambrone has now played Adam for seven seasons on the popular ABC comedy, which airs on CTV in Canada. He is the sitcom avatar for showrunner Adam F. Goldberg in a series based on the American writer and producer’s upbringing in Philadelphia during the 1980s. The young actor has proven so believable as the pop-culture obsessed, would-be filmmaker, that it’s hard to imagine him playing anybody else. It might actually take a turn as a tough cowboy to alter people’s perception of him as the lovable geek.

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In fact, while the fictional Adam Goldberg may be based on the real Adam F. Goldberg, he is also pretty close to Giambrone’s own personality, the actor says.

“At the start, it was already similar to me and moving on it’s become more similar to me,” he says. “I’m playing close to myself.”

As Season 7 kicks off Sept. 25 on CTV, the Goldbergs will be continuing life in 1980-something Philly and beyond after working through a number of coming-of-age milestones in the sixth season. Adam is now a junior in high school, although his girlfriend is off to college. Also this year, Adam’s overbearing, frighteningly self-assured older siblings Barry and Erica (played by Troy Gentile and Hayley Orrantia, respectively) will be attending the same college. Beyond that, Giambrone says that the “Bevolution” will rage on. For the uninitiated, that’s the catch-all phrase to describe the ongoing activities and smothering affection of matriarch Beverly Goldberg (Wendie McLendon-Covey), who will continue to champion her children with unhinged intensity. Presumably, gruff dad Murray Goldberg (Jeff Garlin) will continue to try to bring them all down to earth.

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What isn’t likely to change is that Adam, and the other Goldberg children, will continue to find themselves in witheringly embarrassing situations. It’s been a hallmark of the series since the first season, as when the 11-year-old Adam was mortified after his mother outfitted him with extraordinarily geeky, childish wardrobe or when his sibling played an humiliating practical joke on him inspired by his love of The Goonies.

Giambrone, who graduated from high school last year, says he still enjoys watching the old shows and has never encouraged the real Goldberg or the writers to tone down his character’s inherent nerdiness.

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“I’m all for it,” he says. “I’ve heard a couple interviews with actors I really look up to and they told the writers that they are up for anything. I’d love to be in their category moving on so I’ve got to do some of the things that they do. I’m more than happy to get a dodge ball in the face if it’s funny.”

Giambrone said he has had fun doing research into the strange world of the 1980s. Granted, fictional Adam would probably be appalled by some of the gaps in his education. The actor admits he has yet to see some of his character’s cinematic obsessions, including Time Bandits, the Lost Boys and the Dark Crystal. He also remains perplexed about some of the vagaries of 1980s culture, whether it be the Milli Vanilli lip-synching scandal (“I hadn’t heard about that, I couldn’t believe it was real,” he says), microfiche (“That just sounds made up”) or fax machines (“They are still around, but I’ve never used one.”)

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Still, Giambrone said he shares his character’s reverence for at least one of the decade’s biggest superstars. Alongside his role on The Goldbergs, the actor has also had a side career doing voice work for animated films. That included providing the voice for Cotton, a troublesome young lamb in the Secret Life of Pets 2. Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and Han Solo himself, voiced a sturdy sheepdog named Rooster in the same film. The two never met while recording the blockbuster, although their characters do share scenes together. But both Giambrone and Ford were on the red carpet during the Los Angeles premiere. Alas, despite having the perfect conversation starter — both actors grew up in Park Hill, Illinois — Giambrone couldn’t work up the nerve to meet him. Adam Goldberg would be outraged.

“I just can’t walk up to the guy,” he says. “He still looks as cool as ever. He was pretty much every cool character. I just couldn’t do it. He was there at the premiere. We were close. I can say we acted in the same project, but I can’t say I met the guy.”

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